PoA 15

[pauraque_bk]

Wrist still hurts. When typing is laborious, I feel very handicapped. Much moreso than when I have laryngitis and can't talk. So I've been quiet recently, though I want to say many things. Let it suffice that people are saying smart things in Chapter 14 about Peter and Snape and Harry's POV, and I wish it wasn't so physically hard to answer!

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PoA 15: The Quidditch Final

Lucky for me, this chapter is a bit boring. Quidditch subplot -- not a strong point in this book. I hear that of the three matches, only the first will be in the movie, which I certainly wouldn't argue with.

'Ron, I'm really, really sorry about Scabbers...' [Hermione] sobbed.
'Oh -- well -- he was old,' said Ron[...] (215)

Ron meant what he said: An apology was all he needed.

'Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?' said Malfoy. 'And he's supposed to be our teacher!' (216)

What Draco doesn't get is that his father isn't defending him -- I can't imagine Lucius being impressed by Draco's whining pleas for attention -- but is merely using Draco's complaint as an excuse to get at Dumbledore by ousting Hagrid. Draco's smugness is unfounded.

A number of small scuffles broke out in the corridors, culminating in a nasty incident in which a Gryffindor fourth-year and a Slytherin sixth-year ended up in the hospital wing with leeks sprouting out of their ears. (222)

Sneaky suggestion that the older Slytherin was unfairly picking on a younger kid.

First [Harry] dreamed that he had overslept, and that Wood was yelling, 'Where were you? We had to use Neville instead!' (223)

Neville is again used a symbol of Harry's fears.

A loud snore told him Ron had fallen asleep again. (224)

It's Ron who snores, not Neville, as fanon would have it.

[EDIT: Actually, they both do. ficbymarks discusses canonical snoring here.]

Three-quarters of the crowd were wearing scarlet rosettes, waving scarlet flags with Gryffindor lions upon them or brandishing banners with slogans such as 'GO GRYFFINDOR!' and 'LIONS FOR THE CUP!' (225)

This may not be as bad as it sounds, as Slytherin has been a very winning team for some years -- there's a natural tendency to support the underdog.

Behind the Slytherin goalposts, however, two hundred people were wearing green [...] and Professor Snape sat in the very front row, wearing green like everyone else, and a very grim smile. (225)

Makes 800 people in the stands.

Also: Note that Snape doesn't always wear black.

[Lee:] -- duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger! (225)

Rather unfair to Slytherin, letting the announcer give one team useful information.

'YOU CHEATING SCUM!' Lee Jordan was howling into the megaphone, dancing out of Professor McGonagall's reach. 'YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B--'
Professor McGonagall didn't even bother to tell him off. She was actually shaking her fist in Malfoy's direction[...] (228)

Hm! If McG was doing her own thing, Lee would have had no reason to cut himself off. It reads like he really swore into the megaphone, and JKR was merely too polite to repeat it. JKR usually narrates over bad language (except "damn"), so if "b--" is meant to stand for "bastard", it's unusual. We expect:

'D'you know what that --' (he called Snape something that made Hermione say *'Ron!'*) '-- is making me do?[...]' (130)

Past re-read posts are here.

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Also: If you smiled at someone and they responded by punching you in the face, would you resolve never to smile again?

OK. Then don't withhold all feedback because one writer is a jerk. Thanks.

Comments

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

Slytherin has been a very winning team for some years -- there's a natural tendency to support the underdog

It's also a particularly British tendency. You've only got to scan the British press during Wimbledon fortnight as we cross our fingers and hope for the miracle of a British win to see that demonstrated. Some of it is mere partisanship; the rest is wanting to see the person cast in the role of plucky loser actually become gallant winner instead.

Our proud boast is that we invented lots of sports, then taught the rest of the world to play so that they could beat us at them. :-(

But if Slytherin have had that really long spell of success, then it's entirely understandable that the rest of the school would be united in wanting to see another team get their chance for glory, just to share it around a little.

And there's probably also a feeling that Gryffindor were victims of monstrous ill-luck when the dementor invasion spoiled their match against Hufflepuff. It doesn't matter that there's a good chance that Cedric would still have caught the snitch even if the Gryffindor team wasn't half-distracted by Harry falling off his broom - Harry never even saw the snitch, while Cedric was already in pursuit of it when Harry fell, so there's a good chance that the dementors didn't change the result of that match in any way. But nobody will ever know for certain, so they get the sympathy vote for the bad luck anyway.